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The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:9
And he said unto him, Take me (literally, for me, i.e. for my use in sacrifice) an heifer of three years old. So rightly (LXX; Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, Josephus, Bochart, Rosenmüller, Keil); not three heifers (Onkelos…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:10
And he took unto him all these, and divided (a word occurring only here in Genesis, and supposed by Michaelis to have been taken by Moses from the ancient document from which he transcribed this portion of his work. The…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:11
And when the fowls—literally, and the bird of prey, a collective singular with the article, as in Genesis 14:13, symbolizing the Egyptians and other adversaries of Israel, as in Ezekiel 17:3, Ezekiel 17:7, Ezekiel 17:12…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:11
The silent worshipper. I. THE NATURE OF ABRAM'S WORSHIP. 1. Divine in its appointment. 2. Simple in its ritual. 3. Sacrificial in its character. 4. Believing in its spirit. 5. Patient in its continuance. 6. Expectant in…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 15:12-16
A deep sleep fell upon Abram; with this sleep a horror of great darkness fell upon him: a sudden change. The children of light do not always walk in the light. Several things were then foretold. 1. The suffering state o…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 15:12-16
We have here a full and particular discovery made to Abram of God's purposes concerning his seed. Observe, I. The time when God came to him with this discovery: When the sun was going down, or declining, about the time…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:12
And when the sun was going down. Literally, was about to go down. The vision having commenced the previous evening, an entire day has already passed, the interval being designed to typify the time between the pro-raise…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:12-17
Abraham's watch and vision. "And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep," &c. The great blessings promised are still afar off. As yet Abraham has no son to hand down his name to posterity. By means of a vision God st…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:13
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety—literally, knowing know—that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land which is not there, and shall serve them (i.e. the inhabitants of that alien country); and they (i.e. these fo…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:14
And also that nation (the name of which he does not reveal, in case of seeming to interfere with the free volition of his creatures, who, while accomplishing his high designs and secret purposes, are ever conscious of t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:15
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace (cf. Genesis 25:8; Genesis 35:29; Genesis 49:33). Not a periphrasis for going to the grave (Rosenmüller), since Abram's ancestors were not entombed in Canaan; but a proof of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:16
But in the fourth generation,—τετάρτη δὲ γενεᾷ (LXX.); but, more correctly, the fourth generation, calculating 100 years to a generation. "Caleb was the fourth from Judah, and Moses from Levi, and so doubtless many…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 15:17-21
The smoking furnace and the burning lamp, probably represented the Israelites' severe trials and joyful deliverance, with their gracious supports in the mean time. It is probable that this furnace and lamp, which passed…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 15:17-21
Here is, I. The covenant ratified (Genesis 15:17); the sign which Abram desired was given, at length, when the sun had gone down, so that it was dark; for that was a dark dispensation. 1. The smoking furnace signified t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:17
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down,—literally, and it was (i.e. this took place), the sun went down; less accurately, ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ ἤλιιος ἐγένετο πρὸς δυσμὰς (LXX.), which was the state of matters…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:18-21
In that day the Lord made a covenant—literally, cut a covenant (cf. ὅρκια τέμνειν, foedus icere). On the import of בְּרִית vide Genesis 9:9)—with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:18
Taken into covenant. I. THE BLESSING OF THE COVENANT. 1. The ultimate blessing, to which, in both the commencement and close of the present section, the prominence is assigned, was a splendid inheritance—the land of Can…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 16:1-3
Sarai, no longer expecting to have children herself, proposed to Abram to take another wife, whose children she might; her slave, whose children would be her property. This was done without asking counsel of the Lord. U…
Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. (b. c. 1911.)
ABRAM, SARAI, AND HAGAR. (B. C. 1911.) We have here the marriage of Abram to Hagar, who was his secondary wife. Herein, though some excuse may be made for him, he cannot be justified, for from the beginning it was not s…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 16:1-6
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 16:1
Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children (literally, bare not to him, notwithstanding the promise; the barrenness of Sarai being introduced as the point of departure for the ensuing narrative, and emphasized as the c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 16:1-16
Hagar. The history of Hagar has its two sides—that which is turned towards God and illustrates Divine grace, that which is turned towards man and illustrates human infirmity and sinfulness. Jehovah brought forth compass…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 16:1-6
The maid, the mistress, and the master. I. HAGAR'S SINS. 1. Pride. 2. Contempt. 3. Insubordination. 4. Flight. II. SARAI'S FAULTS. 1. Tempting her husband. 2. Excusing herself. 3. Appealing to God. 4. Afflicting her ser…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 16:2
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained us from bearing. Literally, hath shut me up (i.e. my womb, Genesis 20:18; συνέκλεισέ με, LXX.) from bearing. Her advancing age was rendering this every d…